Fat Tuesday Pancakes

Yup, you guessed it: another recipe. Tonight's invention, in honor of Shrove Tuesday, was pancakes with warm ginger-pear compote. This one's pretty simple:

The Compote:

Two pears
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water (though if you have some pear or apple brandy, use that instead).
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped.

Cut the pears into 1/2 inch chunks. Mix together butter, sugar, water and ginger in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and you get a syrupy mixture. Toss in the pears. Cook over medium heat until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon and the pears are soft, but not so soft they mush out all over the place.

The Pancakes:

Make some pancakes.

The Assembly:

Put the pears on top of the pancakes. A dollop of whipped cream or creme fraiche is also a very nice addition at this point.

Yay pancakes!